Thursday, 28 July 2011

The politics of polio eradication

In talking about polio I often get asked about the attitude of Moslems to eradicating polio. Undoubtedly, in the recent past some militant Moslem clerics have denounced polio vaccinations as a western plot to undermine the Moslem religion. This has obviously had a serious affect on Moslem communities and delayed uptake of the immunisation program, with the result that they have been over represented in polio statistics. Have a look at the following link http://www.polioeradication.org/tabid/408/iid/126/Default.aspx and you will see that the international Moslem leadership embraces the concept and practices of polio eradication. This has undoubtedly been a key element in the success of the program over the last 2 years in the endemic countries of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. In pushing for polio eradication we can rest assured that that the program aligns with Rotary goals of cutting across all barriers whether they be geographical, political, religious or gender based